Pale Blue Dot in a Meaningless Sky
by 100TenMillion
Summary: Casey is given the power to read people's minds by a villain. He soon gains a hrrifying perspective, forcing him to question his role in life, both as a Ranger as well as a person.


**Pale Blue Dot in a Meaningless Sky**

**Bit 1- The opening eyes**

"Morrigan, my dear. Here it is, the key to bringing despair unto the world,"-The demon vampire Maximov held in his hands a ______, as he showed it to his beautiful succubus companion, Morrigan. She holds it in a tender, motherly fashion, almost as if she were about to feed it breast milk.

"My God, Maximov, you are a genius,"-she said, still holding the _________.

"Interesting choice of words, Morrigan. Especially considering what we are, where we are, and who we serve,"-said the demon vampire. He picks up the ________, and transports it to Earth. "Now go, find yourself a heart worthy of you, so we may bring an end to joy, hope and love. May humanity know the purity of despair and hate."

Casey was eating his lunch at the Vegan Hut of San Angeles Mall. He had been asked to switch to a more vegetarian diet by Madison, the Pink Ranger of F.I.V.E. (He never bothered to learn what the acronym stood for) He was just finishing his spinach salad, when his Hy-Com began to beep. He took it out, and answered.

"Casey, Johnny Nitro's been spotted at Buy 'em Large at the San Angeles Mall,"-Mack had informed him via the Hy-Com, the main form of communication between the F.I.V.E. Rangers. And if you wish to know, reader, yes, the F.I.V.E. Rangers do, in fact, number six. Mack leads as Red, with Conner serving along as Black, a very pretty girl known as Z (Casey has no idea where she came from, as she prefers to keep mum abut her origin) served as Yellow while Madison wore Pink. Casey wore Blue, whilst their sixth Ranger, Tori, served as the White Ranger.

"Okay!!! Bang, bang, Johnny Nitro's holdin' the lot of ya hostage!! No one here can even BREATHE without me saying ok!!!!"-said the rather mentally unstable villain known as Johnny Nitro. To the general public, though, he was no light case. He did in fact enjoy employing otherwise advanced technology and weaponry on his crimes. This time was no exception, for he was wearing an advanced computerized suit that held a large cannon that covered his left arm. He used his right arm to fire. He had already opened fire once, causing some considerable property damage.

"Johnny Nitro!!! I don't know what's worse: the fact that you haven't learned your lesson yet, or the fact that I have to teach it again…in a WOMEN'S PLUS SIZE CLOTHING STORE!!!"-said Casey, aggravated. He hated having to deal with Johnny. In fact, of the five villainous factions the F.I.V.E. Rangers had to deal with, he was the weakest. That was due entirely to the fact that he flew solo.

"Oh yeah!!!??? Well….uhhh….this is were your GIRLFRIEND SHOPS!!!! AHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!!!"- Johnny cackled, his delusional mind cracked by years of…even I don't know. Casey, however, by now knew the drill when dealing with Nitro. He took out his V- Switcher, flipped it to reveal the V shaped Antenna, and chanted "Vulcan Changer, activate!!!!"

The V shaped antenna began to emit a yellow light. A bright flash surrounded Casey, as the powers of the Morphing Grid surrounded him, enveloping him in a polymorph textile, with the durability of Titanium yet with the flexibility of spandex. A specialized helmet finished the ensemble (I feel I must say, the F.I.V.E. Rangers use the Fiveman suits) Morphed and ready to go, Casey made a leap forward as the arsonist maniac kept firing at him, regardless of civilian casualties.

A kick to the face was more than enough to send Johnny back four feet. His jaw line hurting like hell, he still managed to get up. Forgetting he had a cannon on his arm, he lunges at the Ranger, ready to throw a furious, yet futile punch. Casey dodges, and grabs the cannon. In a grand move, he RIPS it off from Johnny, which leaves the maniac with a few gashes in his arm. He screams in pain and agony, as a few mal cops arrive to arrest him. Casey takes the cannon and smashes it, ensuring that it will never be used again.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Casey walks away. He suddenly gets goose bumps, as if something dark was approaching. Suddenly, he faces a horrid pain in his back. It feels as if he is suffering from a stab through the very spine. Hundreds of bystanders encircle him. Various shouts of 'Are you okay?' and a few 'Call an ambulance!' are heard by the former Jungle Fury Ranger, before passing out from the excruciating pain. His Hy-Com was beeping once more…

Casey found himself within the ruins of an otherwise modern city. There were skyscrapers abound, but their windows were broken, smashed through; the buildings themselves looked unstable, as if they would collapse any minute. Some were even leaning, and some seemed submerged under a sea of an indiscernible orange liquid. The air was foul, the sky was reddish, and the Sun was high in the sky.

Casey walked forward. His eyes bulge out as he sees the most horrifying thing he has ever seen in his life. A human fetus, the size of a baseball, black in color with tentacles for legs, floating about in the air. It opens its glowing red eyes, and begins to laugh. "I choose you"-it says in a raspy, nearly demonic voice. The world around Casey begins to melt and swirl around him, as he loses his senses.

Casey then wakes up. He looks around him. He's in Hartford Manor, Headquarters for the F.I.V.E. Power Rangers. Z is right next to him. She looks at him, relieved. "Hey kid, had us worried for a moment. When Mack tried to get to you and you didn't answer, he sent me to come get you, case something happened. Found you at the hospital. They said you were unconscious, but otherwise fine. So, here you are."

Casey smiles. He kind of liked Z. He gets up…and suffers an enormous headache. Suddenly, he sees things, various images. He sees a giant talking lizard dog man giving orders to a group of young adults, Z among them. He sees a highly advanced Building shaped like a dog. He sees various aliens walking around in the street in broad daylight. He sees Z herself playing what looks like a futuristic hologram game. He sees her taking orders from an aggravated young man with an eye patch. He sees her and this beautiful blonde girl kissing under the moonlight, the panorama of the futuristic city clearly visible to him.

"Wha…what was that….? Z….where are you from again??"-he asks. She hesitates, remembering her orders. She simply says- "I come from…far away."

"You come from the future, don't you."-he says. She is shocked. How did he know? He too looks shocked. The visions, why did he see them? He goes out the door, and runs. He is confused. Z doesn't stop him. She does not know what to do.

Casey is now in the streets. He begins to hear thousands, millions of voices all at the same time. He can't discern a word that is spoken. He hears the millions of screams, ideas, murmurs, and statements that the populace says at once. He is suffering, he can't take much more. He clasps his ears, covers them wincing, and falls to his knees. It was then that he remembered RJ's training.

Casey remembered the day when the stress from being a Red Ranger was getting to him. RJ, from the days before he became the Wolf Ranger, taught him a secret Pai Zhuq Technique to relieve one's minds from clouding thoughts. "Sit on the ground, Casey. Assume the Lotus position, and close your eyes. Imagine your Tiger Spirit, alone in the dark, playing with a ball of string. Repeat after me: Pawa Van Samfa, Pawa Van Samfa…"-RJ said in his flashback. Casey sat on the sidewalk, assumed the Lotus position, and repeated- "Pawa van Samfa, Pawa Van Samfa"

Casey imagined his Tiger spirit, playing with a ball of string. Suddenly, the voices were gone. He was relieved. That was when he heard it… "Ugh, what a pain,"-said a voice. Another voice said- "A black man can't get no cab in this town!!!" A third one said- "Damn wife of mine, spending all my money…"

Casey opened his eyes. Sure enough, he saw a black man with an annoyed expression trying to hail a taxi and another man wearing a rather expensive suit accompanied by a much younger woman, looking at some jewels. Casey got up, confused. He hears another voice- "Damn, I better call my mom, before she gets mad at me…AGAIN!" He looks at the direction he heard the voice. It was some teenage girl, wearing far too much makeup, sitting at some outdoor cafe. She flips over her cell phone, calls someone and says- "Mom? I'm studying at the library…"

Casey is scared. What is he hearing? He sees a man and a woman walking down the street. A very attractive woman walks by them. Casey notices the man, who had a dour look to him before, smile to her ever so slightly. He then hears him say- "Sarah looks so good today. I may just pay her a surprise visit." the thing was, his lips were not moving. He looks at the woman beside him, and 'says'- "Ugh, Before I do that, I got to tell my wife some bullshit lie. I'll just tell her me and Charlie are playing bridge or something." Casey now knew. He had acquired the power to hear people's thoughts.

"Damn it!!! It's not my fault!!!!"-he hears a voice say. "God damned husband of mine can't keep no job. Thank God I have Dan…"-says another. "Lousy kids of mine, don't know the value of a dollar."-A third one says. "I don't want to live anymore…"-another one says. "Who does mom think she is? Coming over to MY house, eating my food, reading my mail…"-yet another. "Tonight, me and Jane are leaving this God forsaken town. To hell with Sarah and the kids!!!!"-another one.

He did not know what to make of it. All he knew, the voices were driving him mad. He had to get away, he needed quiet. His meditation had helped him to only make out what the voices where saying. He ran off, and heard yet another thought- "Shoot, I'm gonna miss my show! I'll take a shortcut," He looked up. It was that girl from before. That's when he heard another voice- "Mmm, look at that. Tasty…" He saw a man hidden behind a dumpster. The man leapt up, and grabbed the girl. Casey reacted, lunged towards the guy, and pushed him away.

Once he touched the guy, Casey saw a vision of the man's thoughts. He saw how he was going to take out his knife and mutilate the girl's vagina. This image sent Casey into a blind rage. The idea that someone was willing to do that, to an underage girl… He punched the slime ball. He saw another image. This time, the man was raping the girl, nibbling her nipple as she cried. Casey's very stomach began to churn, as the horrid image played out inside his mind. Using all his willpower, he kept himself from killing the would be rapist. He hears a thought- "The hell is going on down there?" Casey looks upward. A large amount of people were peering out their windows, curious over the noise they were hearing.

"Call the police!! This guy was going to rape this innocent girl!!!"-cried out Casey. He hears their thoughts- "The cops? No way!!!" "This kid's full of it, I ain't getting involved." "This has nothing to do with me." "I'm gonna watch some more TV. Screw this." He saw them go back inside. Each of them, going back to their daily business, not caring what would have happened if he had not intervened. The rapist runs off. So does the girl. He stands alone in the alleyway, too shocked for words.

"I can't keep the baby. I need an abortion"-the voice of a young teenager. He looks up, and sees the girl walk into a clinic. "Damn I need me some-"-Casey looked to see who it was. It was a crack addict, begging for change, telling people it's for food. Casey knew, that change was going to be used to purchase drugs. He hears the thoughts of a young boy cursing out his mother. He hears the thoughts of the mother of an autistic child, debating whether to lock him in the car out in the hot sun, keeping the windows closed. He hears the chorus of a sick world.

"I will do this. Jesus, I am your soldier!"-he hears a youth think. He looks up, and sees a young boy entering the abortion clinic. He then gets an image: a pipe bomb. Casey puts two and two together, morphs, and rushes into the clinic. He's too late. The bomb set off early. He enters the burning building anyway. Everyone is dead, even the over zealous youth. Suddenly, he hears someone say- "Help me" It's the young teenage girl he had seen earlier enter this very clinic. He helps her escape the burning building.

The young girl is taken to the hospital. Suddenly, he sees that rapist again. This time, he's got company. Casey's fury reaches a peak level. Still morphed, he grabs the nearest dumpster and smashes the man with it. The other two young men see this act, get scared, and run. Murder. Casey has committed murder, for the first time in his life. A crowd gathers around him. He hears their thoughts, they are all calling him a murderer. He runs.

In a dark alleyway, Casey dimorphs. Suddenly, a pattern appears on the ground. The demon vampire, Maximov, emerges. Casey is now deathly afraid. Maximov was, without a doubt, the most dangerous of the five villainous factions the F.I.V.E Rangers face.

"Blessings from the Dark Messiah, mister Rhodes. I see you have…a new gift."-Said the demon vampire. Casey grabbed his Hy-Com, only to find it does not work.

"Mister Rhodes, do not be afraid. I saw what you have done. You have killed someone. Do not despair. You and I agree, he deserved it. You saw what he was thinking, correct?"-Maximov spoke with his usual dignified grace. Casey hated that tone. In fact, they all did.

'How did you know I can…?"-Casey kept his mouth shut. He said too much.

"I am a demon from Hell, mister Rhodes. It is my duty to watch over mankind. By the way, your gift won't work on me. I have a particularly strong mental shield,"-said Maximov. A black cloud of smoke emerges in his hand. The cloud then turns into a disc box.

"What is that?"-asked Casey. He had realized he could not escape. A barrier had surrounded them.

"A film I'd like to share with you. It's on blu-ray, so the picture is high quality. It's…a collection of mankind's…how do I say this…most colorful moments in it's entire existence. Standard viewing in Hell, really."-said Maximov, manifesting a flat screen television with a blu-ray player- "It's called Chapter Black. I guarantee you, it will open your eyes."

**I opened my eyes**

**I wish I had not**

**Joy was once mine**

**When they remained shut.**

**To be continued…**


End file.
